RSS FeedI Pity LeBron James for Playing with Fools
Posted by ryan on May 19, 2008
I’ve seen LeBron James do some remarkable things in his five year NBA career. Last season, he led an awful Cavaliers team to the NBA Finals and this season, LBJ won his first scoring title and brought the Cavs within a game of the Eastern Conference Finals. If you missed James’ miraculous 45 point effort yesterday, you missed what we’ve known all along. LeBron James has historic ability and arguably the most pathetic supporting cast in the NBA. To aid the Cavs in building a championship team around #23, I offer a few offseason pointers for general manager Danny Ferry.
Look Into Replacing Mike Brown: Ideally, the Cavs could have crashed out in the 1st round, allowing them to enter into discussions with Mike D’Antoni. Brown’s IQ is right up there with the backboard at Quicken Loans Arena. After James’ dominating 1st half, Brown began the first half by calling several consecutive plays for gumpy center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Imagine James in an up-tempo system with a true point guard. He’s one of the strongest finishers we’ve ever seen, but he’s probably playing at about 75% of his true ability because of Brown’s awful system.
Take out the trash: This is made difficult because of the contracts some of these guys have. Hacks like Ben Wallace (signed through 2010), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (2010) Wally Szcerbiak (2009) have large, inflexible contracts that are nearly impossible to move. A friend of mine made an incredible point during yesterday’s game. The Cavs have over $20 million tied up in defensive “specialists” Wallace and Anderson Varejao…but simply cannot have them on the court at the same time.
Draft A Scorer…Please?: Cleveland’s futility was summed up perfectly when Sasha Pavlovic failed to get both of his stupid ass feet behind the three point line. This is another area where the Cavs are done in by their lack of outright mediocrity. By the time they pick in the early 20s, there will be slimmer pickings. However, there’s still some talented guards we can expect to see still on the board. Chris Douglas-Roberts, Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and Wayne Ellington are all projected late-1st round guys. They’d help immensely.
Sign Someone: Several star players have early termination options in their contract. While I’m not expecting the Cavs to be players for Gilbert Arenas (who will probably be seeking a max contract), there’s plenty of other talent out there. Baron Davis, Shawn Marion, Jermaine O’Neal and Elton Brand all have ETOs in their contract this offseason. Since Davis is an injury risk that wouldn’t exactly thrive in Brown’s “system,” I think pursuing Jermaine O’Neal is the best course of action.
It’s that simple, Cleveland. LeBron can carry your team, but without any help whatsoever, he’s not going to carry you to a championship. It’s not a stretch to say that this is the most important offseason in the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers. If moves aren’t made to help LeBron in his quest for a title, he’ll go somewhere else. It’s that simple.
Mel said,
May 19, 2008 @ 11:28 pm
To blame Mike Brown for the Cavs lost on Sunday, is a ridicolus notion. Brown did a hell of a job with the material he had to work with, and to fire him would be foolish, considering this team has been dormant for at least a decade prior to LeBron’s emergence in the league. Brown has to be given consideration for being one of the fine young minds in the game, with an excellent upside. The focal point of the Cavs shortcomings should be attributed to owner Dan Gilbet who must give this team more depth beyond Le Bron. This club needs a point guard, a power forward who can consistently provide a 20 and 10 game, and a better supporting cast. On paper. this club has done it with mirrors, and with the sheer strength of LeBron, but fans of the Cavs will want nothing less than an NBA title, and if this is not forthcoming soon, Cleveland will likely lose the one of the most dominant players of this Nu Skool NBA. David Stern with his propensity for marketing, has a vision of having at least one legitimate superstar on each team, and with Kevin Garnett now in Boston, will franchise jumping again reflect a byproduct of fan apathy in places like Minnesota and most recently, Atlanta, until they made the playoffs. Keeping LeBron in Cleveland is good for the league, but you can bet if the Cavs cannot keep LeBron happy, they may face the miserable proposition of empty seats at the ”Q”.
Joey said,
May 20, 2008 @ 10:12 am
Look, I’m all about the defense that Mike Brown has going for us. However, he is completely clueless on offense. That said, he’d make an incredible assistant coach, working exclusively with defensive strategy. I don’t necessarily think the rest of the Cavs are THAT bad, but Brown is horrible in using them. When Z is having a good game early, he won’t touch the ball late. He refuses to use rotations with Andy and Z at the same time. Damon Jones goes on a tear hitting threes during the season, so it’s a good thing he benched him as soon as the totally proven winner Delonte West showed up(massive sarcasm)with his awesome low three point percentage.
They do need changes in personnel, but that doesn’t make Mike Brown any more than a great assistant coach.